Within Arm's Reach
by the Canary that Ate the Cat
Summary: Ruby and Yang reunite months after the fall of Beacon. Prompt. One shot.


Within Arm's Reach

"Can I see it?"

"Pffff," Yang snorted a dry laugh.

Of course Ruby would ask to see her robotic arm less then twenty minutes after being reunited.

They were seated together on a Schnee airship, courtesy of the Heiress herself. From what Yang had been told, after a very heated argument with her father, Weiss had taken it upon herself to hijack a ship and reunite team RWBY. She'd found Ruby, Jaune, Nora and Ren first, just outside of Mistral, and had just picked up Blake and Yang from Menagerie.

When asked how she had located everyone so easily, Weiss had simply replied, "I have my ways."

Yeah, that wasn't creepy at all. Yang wasn't entirely convinced that the Heiress hadn't implanted tracking devices into them in their sleep.

She looked into Ruby's big, round, curious eyes. Of course she couldn't deny her little sister, never could. She began to remove her jacket.

"Sure."

If even possible, Ruby's eyes grew bigger upon the reveal of Yang's new, robotic arm. Though it was probably incorrect to refer to it as "new" anymore; the metal had dulled significantly, and was covered in scratches and scuffs.

"Oh my gosh, that is so cool!"

Ruby shifted closer to Yang, leaning in and observing the limb from different angles.

"How does it work? Is it dust powered? Is it heavy? Can you use Ember Celica with it?"

Yang had almost forgotten that Ruby could talk just as fast as she could run. Almost.

"Whoa, whoa there. I'm not entirely sure how it works. Yes, it's powered by dust and a combination of my Aura. No it isn't heavy. And..."

This is where Yang usually faltered; where it was less about her cool new tech and more about what happened that night. Ruby looked confused, and not for the first time Yang was envious of how naive her little sister could be; ignorance was bliss.

Yang swallowed the lump in her throat and continued, eyes trained to the floor before her.

"I uhh... I lost half of Ember Celica... when I lost my arm. Hadn't really thought to make another. So I guess I don't really know yet if they are compatible."

The room flooded with equal parts tension and silence. Yang chanced a glance at her sister, but silver eyes were cast down and away.

"Oh."

The single syllable word felt heavy, and not for the first time Yang was reminded of how much everything had changed.

This was Ruby; this was her little sister. There had never been tension and awkward silences between them before. Before...

The attack on Beacon. Yang's arm. Everyone... everyone leaving.

"I'm sorry."

Yang was startled from her thoughts at the sound of Ruby's voice. Despite her short stature, Yang had never once heard her sister sound so small.

She returned her attention to Ruby only to see that the other girl's gaze was still on the floor, but she had curved her shoulders down and into herself. Before Yang could ask what she was sorry for, Ruby continued.

"I... I don't... Uncle Qrow was really hurt, and we didn't know what to do, so we were going to split up. Jaune and I were going to search for help in a nearby village, and Nora and Ren were going to continue towards Mistral but then, before we could this lady showed up out of nowhere. And I mean like, really out of nowhere; there was a bird on the ground and then the next thing I knew, _BAM_ , there's a lady."

Ruby must have sensed her sister's confusion as she stopped to collect herself and finally turned to address Yang.

"Yang, I met Raven. I know who she is. Qrow told me after she saved him."

Yang felt like all the air in her lungs had been robbed from her. She couldn't breathe and the room was spinning and...

Is this what having a heart attack felt like?

"I shouldn't have left."

Yang swallowed hard, desperate to clear the lump in her throat and allow some semblance of a response to come forth. Her sister's name croaked out from between her lips.

"Ruby..."

"No, Yang!"

Ruby's interruption was both a blessing and a blight. As she looked upon her sister, Yang now saw damp tracks across her cheeks; she was having a hard time remembering the last time she saw Ruby cry. Ruby's hand was clutching her right elbow, her robotic elbow, and Yang wondered how long it had been there. She couldn't feel it.

"Yang, you're my sister. I should have been there for you. But I... I was scared, and I thought that running off to defeat this faceless evil would make everything better. But it didn't. Pyrrha, Penny... they are still gone, Beacon is still gone, Remnant is still in danger." As she spoke, Ruby's voice simultaneously cracked as it grew stronger. "But you're still here. And you're still my sister. And regardless of what may or may not have happened, you needed me and I left and I'm sorry."

 _I'm sorry._

Had Yang ever heard those words directed to herself? She wondered for a moment exactly when she had started crying.

Unable to think of anything else to do, Yang scooped Ruby up in her arms and hugged her tightly. Ruby all but collapsed into her sister, head tucked under Yang's chin and tears soaking into the other girl's orange shirt.

"It's okay."

These were the words Yang offered to Ruby. Not words of forgiveness, but understanding. Yang had since decided that she would never again forgive someone she loved for leaving, but instead would accept their reasons for doing so.

These simple words seemed to set Ruby off as her quiet tears became heavy sobs.

"They are gone! They are all gone, and I'm supposed to have this great power within me but I couldn't even save them."

Yang sat there holding her little sister in her arms, her _baby_ sister, the girl she practically raised. And now the fate of the world was somehow being thrust upon her shoulders and no one seemed inclined to inform her of the added weight.

If Yang was anything, she was strong. She was sure she could help Ruby lift it.

And just like countless times before, Yang took care of her little sister, allowing the girl to release all the pent up emotions that had been building for months. Time seemed to have no concept as the two sisters sat in their emotional embrace, in that quiet cabin on a stolen airship.

When Ruby finally pulled back, she rubbed at her left arm achingly.

"What's wrong?"

The younger sister sniffled out a laugh as she looked to Yang.

"Your arm is really hard."

Yang couldn't help but bark out her own laughter as she rubbed the old tears from her eyes. Ruby's full laughter soon followed. It was the kind of laughter one experienced from being punch drunk from too many emotions.

As the laughter died, so did the mood. The heavy tension that had once filled the air had been instead replaced with a feeling of utter exhaustion. Both girls sighed heavily as they shifted to face forward, silver and lilac gazes set to the far wall.

Yang took this moment to ask about something that had been bothering her since Ruby brought it up.

"So... Raven. Did she... do you know where she is?"

Ruby played with her hands; a nervous habit since before Yang could even remember.

"I don't know. She just sort of left just as quickly as she had arrived. Turned into a bird and flew off."

Yang laughed bitterly.

"Welp, you've officially had more contact with my mom then I ever have."

Ruby's response was a dry laugh of her own. Yang pressed forward, unwilling to allow the silence to take over again.

"You said she saved Qrow? What happened? Where is he?"

"Some scorpion faunus named Tyrian poisoned him." Ruby shrugged. "He went off after him as soon as he was able I guess."

Yang had never felt more out of the loop.

Scratch that: she felt pretty out of the loop when she found out Summer wasn't her real mother.

Upon Yang's confused expression Ruby continued.

"Tyrian's just... a part of a whole lot more stuff that I'm not sure I even understand."

Yang grasped Ruby's left shoulder comfortingly.

"How about we save all that for when everyone else is in the room? You and the rest of team, pfff..." Yang stopped to keep herself from laughing before continuing, "team _RNJR_ can fill us in."

"Hey! I didn't pick it!"

Both girls broke out in a fit of giggle, leaning upon each other for support. Ruby glanced over to Yang, then down to her robotic arm.

"So...can I mod it?"


End file.
